The supermajority of Democrats in the California Legislature means that there are fewer Republicans at the Capitol, but the election also resulted in shrinking numbers for another group: female lawmakers.

When the Legislature convenes in January, there will be 32 women in the 120-member body. That's two fewer than in the last legislative session and three fewer than the all-time high of 35 in 2005.

With one current female member of the state Senate moving on to Congress, the number could drop to 31, depending on who wins a special election to fill that seat.

The reason for the falling number is not attributable to one particular thing, said women in the Legislature and others working to elect women.

But some said it may be due to the reality that many of the state's political kingmaker organizations are dominated by men or to the fact that women may not have wanted to serve as the state slashed services because of deficits.

Roles in society

Women simply run for office less often than men, largely because of long-standing social customs casting women in the role of primary caregivers to their families, along with a distaste for the fundraising and mudslinging that come with politics, others said.

Or perhaps women just aren't as willing as men to join an institution that the public looks down upon and that hasn't always functioned well, said Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, chairwoman of the Legislative Women's Caucus at the Capitol for the remainder of the month.

"I think one of the challenges of encouraging women to run is the historic dysfunction of the California Legislature," Evans said. She added that the Democratic supermajority and the ability to pass a budget with a majority vote - now that a 2010 ballot measure has removed the previous two-thirds supermajority requirement - may improve things.

"Hopefully, with the Legislature becoming more functional, women will look at it and say, 'I can actually get something done,' " she said.

While being elected to the Legislature is a high-profile accomplishment, lawmakers' salaries have been slashed in recent years, and they don't receive a pension like other state workers.

But what might be the biggest reason is that the organizations whose money and support are key to a successful candidacy - including labor unions and business organizations - are dominated by men, said Shawnda Westly, executive director of the California Democratic Party.

"Here's the thing - and people don't talk about it: You can recruit all the women in the world to run, but if you don't have women with their hand on the levers of power for PAC endorsements and money, then those women (candidates) aren't going anywhere," Westly said.

Social behavior

There are social differences between men and women that play into the calculation of who gets endorsements and money, Westly said. "I'm not sure men even realize they are doing it sometimes. But I know when I walk into a room of women in politics, I feel more comfortable. I know I won't be underestimated, and we have shared experiences," she said.

"It's the same for men. For instance, you rarely find female candidates going to the Lakers game and tossing back a few beers with the political director of an organization. But to see that social aspect in male candidates is commonplace."

The first time a woman was elected to the Legislature was in 1918, and there were four who won office that year, said Leona Egeland Siadek, a former assemblywoman from San Jose and the historian for the Legislative Women's Caucus.

Tiny numbers

When Siadek was elected in 1974, she was one of two women in the Legislature.

"It's really only been in recent elections that we've had women in greater numbers getting elected, so it's a fairly new phenomenon," she said.

Persuading more women to run for office is key to changing the dynamic, said several women in politics. There are a number of organizations dedicated to finding and recruiting women who would be strong candidates for office, including Emerge California, a chapter of a national organization that seeks to recruit female Democratic candidates.

The biggest obstacles for women are the demands of the job that take away time with family, a general dislike of fundraising and disgust at the blood-sport aspect of politics, said Kimberly Ellis, executive director of Emerge California.

It can be even more difficult to persuade someone who doesn't live near Sacramento to run for the Legislature.

But Ellis said that she expects myriad recruiting efforts to bear fruit in the next five years and result in many more female candidates. Ellis said that when more women are involved in crafting public policy, the resulting laws are more equitable.

"It's not just women for the sake of women," she said. "It's women for the sake of the whole society."

Women underserved

Still, the budget cuts of the past few years in health and social services have affected more women than men, and having more females in power would benefit women and girls, said Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who will become chairwoman of the Legislative Women's Caucus in January.

"My career has been about identifying underserved populations and trying to find resources to fill the gap, and I think women are truly underserved," Lowenthal said. "We are 51 percent of the population, and it's still a struggle to get our fair share of resources."